| DAY 7: MAY 12, 2002 EARLY AFTERNOON BOGOTA, COLOMBIA |
| On Friday got to see the Parque de la Independencia (Independence Park), I love this park -- its really beautiful, walkways to through and up and down (its on the side of the mountain). Liliana (Tanias friend and coworker) took a bunch of pics of us there, I think they are going to turn out really nice! We went for pizza at a place on Carrera Septima called Salerno, an Italian restaurant, which she is familiar with. Excellent place, food, service, and is clean including the bathroom. Neat soap dispensor, gotta say it, never seen something like it. So we walked part of what is called "El Septimazo", which is the walk along that Carrera about 20 blocks or so. Landed up entering one Cathedral or Capilla (whatever) for a few moments of the mass, at the door people asking for money. We sat a little across the street from the Plaza de Santander, a plaza which i really like. We hoped to see the mime guy presentation, but turned out he was taking off his makeup not putting it on. A gentleman was sitting on a ledge playing some kind of interesting instrument we couldn"t see, something with i think was in his mouth and sometimes lowering it to do something with his hand, who knows, but it made an interesting sound. We moved along to the Main Plaza of Bogota, around which are the government buildings and main Cathedral of Bogota and such. Lots of pidgeons as well as people here too. Took some pics of some children feeding the birds, so cute! :) Then we took a walk through some of La Candelaria. Plans fell thru to go out dancing tht night, so maybe next week. Instead, went to a peluqueria (ha! I will leave that a mystery for those of you who don}t know Spanish, don}t worry, you"ll see sooner or later, winkwink) Yesterday, Tania and I took a bus to Zipaquira, a small city about an hour and a half out of Bogota. The attraction there is the Catedral de Sal, or, Salt Cathedral. It was constructed underground in a salt mine. Believe me it is huge!!!! It has, I think it is 12, Stations of the Cross, a number of other Bible related things like angels, statues/figures, and an actual Cathedral with pews and all down there, and there is a mass held there on Sundays. It is hard to describe unless you see it too, or I have pics to help me. But it was certainly worth seeing. I have a story about the bus trip. (Shake head). So we go to the Bus Terminal: ok this place is humungous compared to that which we see in Edmonton, WInnipeg or elsewhere in Canada likely... (Tania says however that even this one is small compared to the one in Buenos Aires, Argentina.) Anyway, considering the size of the city, it fits. It costed only 3600 pesos for the two of us to get to Zipaquira. That is about a buck or two in US currency. Really cheap to bus about here in this country. There were about four people on this bus upon pulling out of the terminal. I thought, -- oh cool, it�ll be a pleasant ride out like this. But, WHAT in the world was I thinking!! Se me perdio la mente acerca de donde estoy en el mundo -- I lost my mind concercing where I was in the world! As the bus trucks along through Bogota, there are people along the roads and the guy hanging out the bus door calls out where the bus is going, and who wants to board along the way can. The bus filled to between 80 and 100 people, and still probably another 100 wanted to board after it was already filled. This was more like the picture Javier had given me through his stories. I had imagined open space between Bogota and Zipaquira, pero no, there is stuff all along the way. The bus passed through towns called Chia and Cajica before getting to Zipaquira. After seeing the Cathedral and the museum plus just a few streets in Zipa, we bused back to Cajica and from there took another bus to a town called Tabio. This town was really really nice. Lots less people, nice cobblestone streets, pretty houses and such... walked up to a Capilla, or small cathedral, built in 1604. Cool!!! Got a few cute little things there, and after stopping for coffee (Tania) and water (yo) we caught another bus back to Bogota. The initial bus rides of the day were pleasant but I tell you this one on the way back went super-fast (that is more fast than the others)! More thrilling, and this road back in a little less agreeable condition as the rest, but it was fun... Given i drank a whole botella de agua b4 leaving Tabio, by the time we were into Bogota, you can imagine.. i tried to wait as long as possible, but finally we got off and tried to find a bathroom... walking already slowly til a few blocks down, :) we found one and of course the pay didnt matter. (It never does as its cheap, that is --- for those of you who do not know, in Latin America at some pubic places you have to pay to go to a bathroom, and most times you pay they give you some TP.) ...then we caught a taxi home as Tania felt the area wasnt the best (it was dark already). Plans also fell through to go out Saturday night, and I was so zonked I think I had a nap when we got in, but not long later just went to bed. Today, Mothers Day, very important in Latin America. The majority of people go out to eat, but Tanias family prefer to eat at home. I am writing this as I wait til the meal is ready. On Sundays and holidays in Bogota, some fareways (Carreterras and Calles) are closed, and become what are called "Ciclovias", or Cycle-Ways. They are full of people cycling and some on rollerblades, cosas asi (things like that). Its really neat!! One major fareway, Carrera Septima, not far from Tanias place, is a CicloVia, but also, it is fuller of people on Sundays than during the week, of the street venders and of course people. I tell you, you can find almost anything you need from street venders. Cell phones, jewelry, books, wrenches (i saw one man selling these, giving a presentation of them and even using a small microphone-announcer type thingie), shoe laces, clothing, accessories of whatever sort, fruit, candies, lollipops, food like pan or bakery foods, cold drinks... the list could go forever. Also on the buses venders will hop on. One morning on the way to Maloka there was a man trying to sell a recipe book, he was describing all the types of recipes to found therein, and I was wondering if he was going to sell it, and yes he did! Sometimes on a bus trip out of the city, if in one town a vender gets on, depending what he has, it can be quite nice, for example if he has bottled water or (of course, chocolate! haha). K gotta go join la familia for lunch, Laters, ~ Amy |